George Bushs critics rightly roasted him for his tortured syntax and waterboarded grammar, and used it to make the claim that the graduate of both Harvard and Yale was an idiot. Well, perhaps, but I dont recall him ever claiming that Austrian was a language. It takes a highly-esteemed intellect, it seems, to miss the fact that Austrians mainly speak German:

Obama: It was also interesting to see that political interaction in Europe is not that different from the United States Senate. Theres a lot of  I dont know what the term is in Austrian  wheeling and dealing  and, you know, people are pursuing their interests, and everybody has their own particular issues and their own particular politics.

Austrians speak German and Italian primarily, as well as French  and Im sure some Austrians speak languages ranging from Albanian to Swahili, being an intelligent and cultured people. However, none of the speak Austrian, because it doesnt exist.

I got a deluge of e-mails on this, so thanks to all who sent the tip. Other bloggers on this Obamateurism:

Update: LGF claims they have a clip of Bush bowing to Abdullah, but hes actually bending down to receive a medal from the Saudi king. Bush is much taller than Abdullah, which would have made it impossible for Abdullah to get the medal around his neck otherwise. We can question whether Bush should have accepted a medal from the Saudis, but he wasnt greeting Abdullah with a bow.

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. Ill post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and Ill give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

A comic once joked about Dan Quayle saying he did not speak Latin when visiting Latin America, but it was a joke and not a fact. Regardless, the media reported that as a fact hundreds of times over many many years.

14
posted on 04/06/2009 9:23:08 AM PDT
by Always Right
(Obama: more arrogant than Bill Clinton, more naive than Jimmy Carter, and more liberal than LBJ.)

Obama: It was also interesting to see that political interaction in Europe is not that different from the United States Senate. Theres a lot of  I dont know what the term is in Austrian  wheeling and dealing  and, you know, people are pursuing their interests, and everybody has their own particular issues and their own particular politics.

Austrians speak German and Italian primarily, as well as French  and Im sure some Austrians speak languages ranging from Albanian to Swahili, being an intelligent and cultured people. However, none of the speak Austrian, because it doesnt exist.

What an idiot. I guarantee you'll never hear/read this in the MSM. If a Republican said this, you'd hear it about it for decades a la Dan Quayle...

25
posted on 04/06/2009 9:32:07 AM PDT
by nutmeg
(DemocRATs: The party of tax cheats and other assorted crooks)

I don’t speak Marxism, but I’m afraid I’m picking up a few words here and there by listening to our Marxist in Chief. The phrase I’m struggling with mostly is “redistribution of wealth” but MiC rolls it off the teleprompter so smoothly, like he’s been saying it all his life and believes in it. Gee, I wonder why?

Perception of reality in many instances is as important as reality itself. “Bush =idiot, Obama=genius” reality was instrumental in bringing Obama to power. But it has limitations. It does not take into account the players outside of this system. And the real world provides schemers and intrigants that can and will eat Obama for breakfast. As Chicago machine had an advantage over less skillful players, its not a match against people that came to power in the jungles of Kremlin, Peking, Tehran, Pyongyang.

Doesn’t Osterreich mean “Eastern Nation”, implying the eastern portion of the German-speaking peoples? In fact, if memory serves me, it was renamed Ostmark (Eastern Province) in the days of the Anschluss.

Doesnt Osterreich mean Eastern Nation, implying the eastern portion of the German-speaking peoples? In fact, if memory serves me, it was renamed Ostmark (Eastern Province) in the days of the Anschluss.

no im sorry has nothing to do with it. Österreich doesn´t mean Eastern nation. it´s true that “ost” translated into english means “east” and “reich” can be translated into “empire,kingdom...”) But this is just “ coincidence” that this fits somehow with the english language.
Has nothing to do with the name of the country. i have to admit i just tried to take a crash course on the internet because i was interessted too where the name Österreich does come from. this even totally confused me (because it´s more than 1000 years of history and the name has changed a lot during this time). and my english is just to limited to only try to explain it :-) but you are correct about the “anschluß” it was named “ostmark” (because austria did no longer official “exist” during this time) and this can be translated into eastern providence. but again has nothing to do with the real name Österreich.
greetings

Yes but there is a difference between local, regional and national dialects and a different language. I can tell a southerner from a Bostonian but they both speak English. Let’s not forget that in the Spanish world they all taught Castilian as the primary language.

50
posted on 04/06/2009 10:27:24 AM PDT
by aft_lizard
(One animal actually eats its own brains to conserve energy, we call them liberals.)

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